Press Conference: draft picks

[CruzDude]

No, its an asset. Another piece and a chance to take an opportunity to find a gem. Unfortunately, your mentality seems to be the one that Geoff shares which is why our 2nd round choices seem like such WTF selections. Will it change the future of the team? Probably not. Most 2nd rounders don't. But when you are as bad and directionless as we are, it seems silly to waste it on a "practice player.

Watch out! Brockman will be in summer league and 75% he is on roster in October. He is good pick at that point and someone Kings said they were following at that spot. Led Pac-10 in rebounding last 2-years. Kings have NEVER had anyone do that their last 2 college years before NBA. So he must be better than we give him credit for.

 

[jdbraver]

He will be a 12th man and probably never leave the bench. His job will be to be a monster in practice and keep the team motivated.

 

[Bricklayer]

Watch out! Brockman will be in summer league and 75% he is on roster in October. He is good pick at that point and someone Kings said they were following at that spot. Led Pac-10 in rebounding last 2-years. Kings have NEVER had anyone do that their last 2 college years before NBA. So he must be better than we give him credit for.

Anthony Bonner led the entire nation in rebounding as a senior. I would guess he probably led his league as a junior too.

As for Brockman, yes and no. Few are doubting his rebounding ability, although there were a number of undrafted guys who put up even bigger numbers. The doubt is about everything else.

 

[bajaden]

He's 6'7" and fairly groudbound -- no way can he be a Pollard. He'll never be able to guard a 7'0" tall center or close down the lane. He's got be be one of the undersized pure PF scrappers, but thing is most of them marry defense to their rebounding.

He actually gets off the ground better than you would think. Don't get me wrong. Were not talking a 40" vertical here. But he's quick at leaving his feet. Doesn't have great lateral movement, but no one will move him off the block. He's pretty good at getting defensive position, and he'll certainly leave bruises on you. I guess the best way of describing his defense is that he will irritate the hell out of you and make you work for everything you get. How all that translates is anyone's guess..

 

[bajaden]

I didn't click the link but did he really say that again? Good god Maloof..

No! He didn't..

 

[funkykingston]

He's 6'7" and fairly groudbound -- no way can he be a Pollard. He'll never be able to guard a 7'0" tall center or close down the lane. He's got be be one of the undersized pure PF scrappers, but thing is most of them marry defense to their rebounding.

Brockman is more athletic than many seem to be giving him credit for. If anything, it's his wingspan that is pedestrian, not his vertical. He showed well in a few dunk contests in high school all-star games, including the McDonald's All-American.

He's not a center - he's a power forward. He played alongside Hawes at the four just like they did in Washington. I actually think we'll see Thompson slide to the five for some stretches if a true backup C doesn't come in. JT has the length and I'm guessing he'll return next season with some added bulk.

As a Cal alum and fan I saw a lot of Brockman and am glad to see him on the Kings. I actually think he'll have a better career than Jordan Hill. That is to say, I think Brockman will carve out a career as a bench player and I think Hill will be a bust. Maybe he'll surprise me, but I was never impressed with the guy in college.

 

[dbfish]

Brockman was picked because....

......he looked good in purple at U Dub.

Sorry. I don't think he will make an NBA team. If he does then maybe I'll get off his back.
Useless pick and wasted time blogging about a 2nd round pick.

 

[SacTownKid]

Jon is actually a very physical and strong defender. He got solid reviews from his time at Portsmith. He defends the post like a wild ape, I'm looking forward to it. And 6 HARD fouls is never a bad thing!

 

[SacTownKid]

Brockman is more athletic than many seem to be giving him credit for. If anything, it's his wingspan that is pedestrian, not his vertical. He showed well in a few dunk contests in high school all-star games, including the McDonald's All-American.

He's not a center - he's a power forward. He played alongside Hawes at the four just like they did in Washington. I actually think we'll see Thompson slide to the five for some stretches if a true backup C doesn't come in. JT has the length and I'm guessing he'll return next season with some added bulk.

As a Cal alum and fan I saw a lot of Brockman and am glad to see him on the Kings. I actually think he'll have a better career than Jordan Hill. That is to say, I think Brockman will carve out a career as a bench player and I think Hill will be a bust. Maybe he'll surprise me, but I was never impressed with the guy in college.

+1. I'm hoping Jason slides to the 5 a little more myself. I think he'll fit in with the way Westphal wants to play at the 5.

Jon is also a much better post player than he's been given credit for. He has a knack for making the same types of shots a guy like Tyler Hansbrough makes. While he won't be a star I like him because of his hustle and physicality. They show like every single Washington game on the CBSSports channel on comcast here so I've seen him play quite extensively.

 

[Krunker]

I'm down with Brockman even if all he can do is rebound and foul. Every team needs a hustle guy off the bench. We're the worst team in rebounding so at least we're making moves to address it.

 

[Bricklayer]

I'm down with Brockman even if all he can do is rebound and foul. Every team needs a hustle guy off the bench. We're the worst team in rebounding so at least we're making moves to address it.

Unless he becomes a rotation player this is a fake move, like having Justin Williams on the bench. Nobody can block a shot or grab a rebound while warming the end of the bench.

Hey, I like his attitude (indeed I am questioning myself when I question Brockman) and hope he splats our returning wussies left and right before he gets cut, I just have severe reservations aboout his NBA utility, and about whether an NBA coach will actually give him the minutes to make any difference.

 

[FromIsrael]

Bahhh now some news are saying casspi is gong to the D-League for one year.. to get stronger or somthing.

 

[Aenadin]

i dont think he will be in the d-league for an entire year thats insane.

probably in short stints like 5 games or 10 games.. but then again i think they should have him start in the pre-season games but i doubt hes in the d-league all season...

or i see noc packaged to be shipped somewhere.. brockman is the one who would benefit in the d-league.

can we play donte at the 4?

 

[jalfa]

I wouldn't worry about Casspi going to the D-League, the organisation seems not to like it and has, IIRC, never sent anybody down for longer stretches of time.

 

[Bricklayer]

Bahhh now some news are saying casspi is gong to the D-League for one year.. to get stronger or somthing.

I am assuming that is just speculation -- since we drafted him, it would have to be our decision to send him down to D-League, and we would still have to pay him as if he was on our roster. It would also start the clock ticking on the years of his rookie contract. And right now we've still got plenty of open roster spots.

It would not shock me in the end if he did spend some time in D-League, especially if Geoff returns to sleep mode and does not clear out one of the old vet SFs ahead of him, but that decision would not be made until after we'd seen him in summer league at least, and probably training camp as well. If he impresses, I doubt we'd send him down -- we've said in the past we think guys can learn more practicing with the main squad than in D-League. Last year we had Donte Green really struggling to adjust for us, and he was still on the NBA roster for most of the season and only spent a month down in D-League.

So anyway, doubt it unless he really looks overwhelmed physically in summer league and training camp.

 

[mac]

You know what would be nice? If Douby magically and miraculously gained point guard skills and we could move Beno. Yay. Not happening though

 

[KingKong]

Both Petrie and Gavin seem genuinely excited about Tyreke, so I'm happy with the pick. I was pretty miffed when we passed on Rubio, but maybe this works out better for us.

 

[Bballkingsrock]

As long as this kid can toughen up our big men with Hawes and Thompson, its a pretty legit pick. With our 38th pick, there was not much to choose from so choosing a tough hustler can show your team to play with more effort and toughness.

Brockman can possibly play that Eduarjo Najera style of play. He can just be a 13th man sitting on the bench but at least toughening our guys in practices.

 

[MassachusettsKingsFan]

You know what would be nice? If Douby magically and miraculously gained point guard skills and we could move Beno. Yay. Not happening though

Douby isnt on the team anymore

 

[bajaden]

One last word on Brockman. I usually rooted for either Cal or Stanford. Gotta stick with the local schools. Anyway I saw Brockman play quite a bit. Not by design but because I was usually watching the other team. He's one of those guys, that when your rooting for the other team, you look at and say, God! I hate that SOB.

Because of his style of play, and because he's a rookie, he'll be in serious foul trouble this year. Thats assuming he plays enough minutes.

 

[Nighthawk1]

Bahhh now some news are saying casspi is gong to the D-League for one year.. to get stronger or somthing.

Like others said, he's probably only going down there for a short stretch and probably while they try to figure out what to do with everyone at the 3.

 

[VF21]

I wouldn't pay too much attention to anything being said UNLESS it comes directly from the Kings via their website or an official press release. I can 100% guarantee they haven't made any kind of decision to send Omri - or anyone else, for that matter - to the D League or anywhere else except summer league. It's way too premature to be figuring out other stuff. We've got free agency coming up and there could be several additional personnel moves before we even get to training camp.

 

[fnordius]

Like others said, he's probably only going down there for a short stretch and probably while they try to figure out what to do with everyone at the 3.

I think that a dozen or so games in the DL might be a good chance for him to adjust to different rules and court measurements. It'd be a pity for him to foul out of his first several NBA games because he hadn't had a chance to develop new play habits yet.

 

[gunks]

One last word on Brockman. I usually rooted for either Cal or Stanford. Gotta stick with the local schools. Anyway I saw Brockman play quite a bit. Not by design but because I was usually watching the other team. He's one of those guys, that when your rooting for the other team, you look at and say, God! I hate that SOB.

Because of his style of play, and because he's a rookie, he'll be in serious foul trouble this year. Thats assuming he plays enough minutes.

Haha, we need one of those players.

I think people are kinda blowing the softness of our frontline out of proportion. JT is a scrapper. Hawes has a mean streak.

Most of our frontline's softness got traded for Noc.

I would prefer Spencer to shoot way less 3s and take it inside more. And I think we need a bigman coach. Coachie is a corrupting influence on our young bigs too, we should keep them far away from him. Dude's trying to make them BOTH high post. There's your softness right there.

 

[Warhawk]

One thing to consider is that the Kings don't even have enough players to fill out their NBA roster yet, much less to start sending players down to the D-League.....

 

[Warhawk]

I would prefer Spencer to shoot way less 3s and take it inside more.

He would if we had a point guard that could actually get the ball to him when he is posting up at the beginning of a posession.

 

[sactownfan]

I would prefer Spencer to shoot way less 3s and take it inside more.

Although I think we will be more able to get the ball inside to Hawes this next year...

With Evans still needing some work on his 3pt shot... Hawes will spend just as much time on the perimeter this year...

either creating mismatches by bringing other bigs out of their comfort zone, or clearing the lane for Evans to drive to the basket with one less big around to defend

 

[bloom]

Anybody have the video of Casspi finally in Sacramento with the other rooks?

 

[VF21]

I'm guessing KINGSDOTCOM will post those tomorrow.

 

[gunks]

He would if we had a point guard that could actually get the ball to him when he is posting up at the beginning of a posession.

Yes but Beno subscribes to the "Ignore the bigs in the post even though they have established position on smaller defenders so that I can dribble the ball standing in one spot for about five seconds and then launch a heavily contested three that will more likely then not bounce off the front of the rim assuming I'm even on target and maybe someone will get an offensive rebound and putback thats practically like an assist" school of playing the point...

...And then he dribbles it off his foot and blames the coach, Martin, or Cisco.

But in the perfect world Warhawk, in the perfect world..